1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motor vehicle alarm systems, and more particularly to a portable alarm that may be installed in cantilever from the cigarette lighter outlet of a motor vehicle to issue a remote alarm signal upon the movement of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In today's multi-modal travel practices the short term use of rented or borrowed motor vehicles is an event that occurs with increasing regularity, with the trends all pointing to an even higher rate of temporary vehicle possession instead of permanent ownership. As the range of our travel distances increases temporary use of a motor vehicle at the remote destination is now a common event. This same distant travel, however, makes each one of us travelers a stranger and the already high incidence of vehicle theft and burglary is thus further increased by these temporary vulnerable settings. The victimized traveler is now a familiar sight and a frequent subject of various tales and jokes.
In the past various vehicle alarm systems have been devised, all however characterized by one or another mode of concealment to effectively resist those bent on theft or burglary, but it has been this concealed nature of the alarm that has led to its virtually universal rejection by those renting the car. At the end of a long flight, spanning many time zones, one simply does not have the time nor perseverance to learn some new and different alarm wrinkle and whatever alarm systems may be in the rental car are each simply relegated to inattention. Thus the complex activation and deactivation process of a strange alarm system in a strange, rented car has been universally rejected. Nonetheless, we each travel with a certain repertoire of significant personal articles which we don't want to lose and it is at this juncture that some alarm system is desired, particularly if the alarm system stays with us and therefore becomes well familiar in use which is further advanced by convenient installation in each vehicle rented. Such a portable alarm can very well become a part of our familiar set of personal travel accessories. Of course, also included is the recently evolved and now common wireless communication device that invariably forms a part of this accessory array.
In the past various alarm systems have been developed which in one way or another combine a vehicle alarm system with a wireless communication device. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,869 to Horton describes a vehicle security system in which a remotely signaled receiver disables the vehicle after it is stopped, U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,371 to Fuller teaches a portable, window mounted and powered from cigarette lighter socket alarm system which can be remotely turned on and off by a remote transmitter and one need only visit the several teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,335,679 to Thomas, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,920 to Chen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,506 to Xiao, U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,505 to Drori, U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,776 to L' Esperance, et al. and many others for the various manners of cooperative interconnection between a car alarm system and a wireless communication device. While each is suitable for the purposes intended none, however, combine the spring-mass combination of the electronics of a fully portable alarm and sending unit with a cantilevered mount receivable in the ubiquitous cigarette lighter to produce both the mechanical sensing associated with vehicle intrusion that then also sets off a remote page. It is the synergistic conveniences of the combination of these two aspects that are now described.